Here is what transpired when my press broke – yes, I proceeded to make coffee in it, as you know how much I love my morning coffee:

We then realised that it was a big of a health hazard, what with potential chips of broken glass and all, so we said goodbye and threw it away, and as I knew that the sister in law was visiting, and she’d promised me a new one, we knew we could manage for a few hours. But, it was morning and my hubby was at home, which always means the gift of coffee and conversation. So, I decided to try out my Bodum tea maker, rather than make some Starbucks Via, which just isn’t the same. I coarsely ground the beans and the coffee actually turned out very well, surprisingly.

As my sister in law loves Akara, the Nigerian bean fritters that the hubby makes so well, he cooked and made a lovely batch, while we awaited their arrival. They were exactly on time, and came armed with a gorgeous new miniature Bodum Chambord French Press! It is one of the original French presses, designed in the 50s. Looking at the shiny new contraption, there is no doubt about it’s beautiful build quality and I must look after it well.

Says Bodum about the art of easy, yet lovely coffee: “The French press system has always been the simplest and ultimate way of brewing an excellent cup of coffee. Using fresh coarseground beans with water between 92 and 96 degrees brings out the very best in all types of coffee.”

Here is my new baby! :-)

]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/all-in-good-time/
Sat, 05 May 2012 15:23:18 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/all-in-good-time/I was invited by one of my favourite lady survivors and someone who I hope will be in my ‘Spotlight’ series, for the London press junket for an upcoming British film called All in good time, which releases on 11th May in the UK. Another time, I will blog some photos of the venue for this, as there were some amazing fixtures in a hotel in a very historical part of London. I had the pleasure of watching the film on one of my rare post surgery outings, a few months back and being a British Asian, a lot of points from it resonated with me. I had also spoken about the Bolton set film on my BBC West Midlands slot, last week.

Amara Karan is a fellow British Tamil, who, like me, gave up a corporate career, to follow her dream. She’s Oxford educated, stunning, articulate and her very first role was for a Wes Anderson film, which is a very impressive start. She broke barriers by being super hot and very sexy sari clad waitress, in The Darjeeling Limited, as the love interest of Adrien Brody.

Here are my original post film reactions. The embargo is lifted, so I can share them!

All in good time, for me, is an important film to get made and distributed, as it takes the original play, Rafta Rafta, to another dimension and the story, which is quite universal to British Asians, will be seen by many more, on silver-screen and then TV and DVD. Nigel Cole, whose films, Made in Dagenham and Calendar girls are firm favourites of mine, shows his versatility with this film.

I was a little confused about the Datsun (then Nissan) Cherry car in the very end sequence, as it’s a very 70s car, but the film itself didn’t seem as dated – a timeline, as one of my peers pointed out, may have elucidated better. Then again, it is a universal subject and while it does reinforce the stereotype of Asians living with their Parents after marriage and explores those topics of arranged marriages e.t.c, the treatment was excellent.

The cast, in my opinion, made the film special. Amara proved her mantle as one of Britain’s brightest young actresses, and Reece Ritchie is not just good looking, but showcased the gamut of emotions his character was to reveal during the film. Meera Syal and Harish Patel pulled off stellar performances and the rest of the cast, particularly the likes of comedian Rani Moorthy, were impressive.

Overall, it’s a film that I feel will go down well with audiences, with a great mix of serious emotion and humour. The story will feel a little ‘old’ to the younger generation of viewers, but nevertheless, they will resonate with some part of it. From an Asian standpoint, I don’t think this is a ‘family’ film per say, but I feel that the different generations will enjoy watching it separately. There were some slow moments, but thankfully, there were comedic redemption points.

The cinematography was on point and I was particularly heartened by the music, from Chanda Re (Eklavya), to pertinent English language songs, evocative of an era gone by. The brilliant British composer Niraj Chag, whose work I’ve followed for a long time now, does due diligence to this soundtrack. It is well directed, well produced and I look forward to it getting a fabulous distribution. I feel that audiences beyond the UK will enjoy it and I feel it is particularly something that India will connect with, due to it’s subject matter, which is more current to life there now (in some parts).

We as British Asians have moved on from many of the film’s themes, but there is room for us to watch and feel the emotion beyond the stereotypes and learn a little bit about the history of our people in the UK, much like enjoying the period TV series, The Indian Doctor.

]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/queen-of-the-marinade/
Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:55:53 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/queen-of-the-marinade/I’m often told by my food loving brainiac friends, that there is science behind the art of marinades, but I respectfully disagree to a degree. I believe that it’s about having a sense of the different spice aromas, that leads to one blending, grinding and teasing liquids together, to penetrate the meat we then roast or stew. I’m no technical boffin, so I can only go with my heart, where food is concerned. I don’t measure or plan, but I do peruse the odd recipe for tips.The above is a photo I took of a Thai spiced lamb that I made with fresh garlic, fresh lemon grass, curry leaves, green chillies and Tom Yum paste from M&S.

We’re not vegetarians and marinates, in my humble opinion, work best with fish, poultry and meat. Don’t get me wrong, I love my South Indian vegetarian foods, from time to time and I often made tadka dhal, rasam and rice, for my own consumption.

As a couple, we both come from very different backgrounds, from Asia and Africa and of course, we have very British sensibilities also, so our cooking is a true fusion of flavours.

From Oriental to African, and sometimes the hearty British brunch with an African twist (read the addition of Scotch bonnet peppers, spring onions and Titus sardines to scrambled eggs).

Here is an image of when I roasted Spatchcock poussin, which already came part marinated – I added to it with a Danish ‘Granny’s rub’ from an obscure shop in London’s Olympic land, Stratford.
My husband has crowned me the ‘Queen of the marinade’, due to my recent stints of home cooking, as eating out is a rare affordable option (despite us both having Taste Cards) and while I’d always loved cooking, time was always a factor in creating space in my life for it. I am humbled by his compliment and sweet love for me and hope to deliver some good food selections to him and those who visit us.

We have taken to getting together in the kitchen and my love is the blending of spices, while he’s very good at fine chopping of various peppers, spring onions, garlic, ginger and all such magnificent ingredients.

As a kid, my Dad always spoke of Pataks, as he spent some of his life in the UK before moving to Denmark and Africa and then moving back for good when I was a kid. Mr Patak himself, used to run a store in the Drummond Street area of London, an area that PhD students like my Dad were living in.

Mr LG Patak came to the UK with £5 in his hand and created an empire, while servicing the culinary needs of so many students, and his legacy continues, with the likes of me, who may infuse with spice powders like Jaffna roasted curry powder and Rajah spices garam masala, but often finish off an Indian style marinate with a rub of Pataks Korma paste or Madras paste. I find that it just adds to the flavours descending all the way to the core of the meat marinated.

This is an image byAkin Aworan, from a trip to Fez in Morocco, where meat was always beautifully soaked in flavour.
I am a big fan of the Marks and Spencer spice mills and more so, of the Jamie Oliver ones – they make my life easier and quite often, a good Keralan black pepper, like the Tellicherry from Jamie’s collection, or the Wayanad variety from Lakeland, are all one needs to finish off fabulous dish.

My Hungarian sister in law introduced us to Paprika and it’s virtues – we now seek good capsicum peppers on our grocery trips and also cook a lot with wine and fresh herbs. Our kitchen often has a pot of fresh parsley, coriander and/or basil growing, as we enjoy the subtle flavours they impart and thus enhance our food.

With my health juggle, post a fairly big surgery, eating in is more important, as is knowing exactly what is in my food. I have to make sure I am gluten free and also incorporate things like rice bran oil, coconut milk, quinoa and different types of grains into my diet. The hubby also loves rice and when he fancies pasta or pizza, we tend to find gluten free varieties for me, to go with the sauces he makes so competently. There is a baby gluten free pasta at Boots, that I can eat, and M&S do some nice pizza bases, but I digress.

Back to the marinade that my new crowing at home beckons, I find that it’s about blending flavours that ‘may’ work together, like dill seeds or coriander seeds, with pastes, oils, vinegars and all such foodie delights. I’ve found that oil helps the marinade seep through, and stabbing the meat well is not just stress relief, but also allows for a tastier end product!
In London, there are luxury stores like Selfrigdes, Harrods and Harvey Nichols that stock some unusual varieties of spices, herbs and condiments. When I have some spare cash, I head down, if not to buy, then to get ideas and be a tad impulsive in adding zing to my culinary journeys.

Happy cooking, food lovers. I hope to share more on this topic, in the near future, God willing. Be blessed, enjoy taste explosions in your mouths and surrender to the glorious aromas that behold.

Photos: Yours truly, who is an amateur photographer with a phone camera, and the wonderful pro Akin Aworan

]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/flower-macaroons-2/
Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:40:37 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/flower-macaroons-2/Jasmine, Rose and Orchid Macaroons from the Great Eastern Market at Westfield, Stratford – Daniel, the chef from L’orchidée, is a genius – these are perfectly moist and absolutely delicious! A gluten free treat, for people like me who have restricted diets.
]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/french-pressing-coffee/
Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:41:01 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/french-pressing-coffee/This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Due to all my health challenges over the last ten years or so, there are many things I can’t eat and drink. The good news is that a small amount of coffee is something my body can take and I make it one of my daily rituals, and like everything I do, I make it with gusto and put 100% into it.

Grinding beans daily means releasing the antioxidants they contain and the jury’s always out, when it comes to how healthy coffee is. I believe that one cup is good for me and say a little prayer before drinking it, or dare I say, relishing it, sip by sip.

The process of making the coffee is really very easy, and I first experienced this ‘real flavour’, on my first trip to Chennai, in South India. Their ‘decoction’ coffee uses a similar method, and the flavour is truly king.

1) Grinding beans – pick your favourite roasted beans, available at Starbucks, Supermarkets and Market stalls all over the world. My beloved bought me my very first coffee bean grinder from the James Martin range at Wahl. I grind it to different consistencies depending on my mood – the finer the grind, the smoother the coffee.

2) Use a clean French Press – I used to own a purple Bodum one, that sadly broke, so I now own a La Cafetière from Marks and Spencer. Fill it with the ground coffee.

3) Add flavourings – I tend to use Vanilla as a base essence, as it softens the taste of roast beans and takes any bitterness off. I then add whatever essence takes my fancy. Favourites are Jasmine essence, Rose water, Orange blossom water, Almond essence, Cinnamon powder and I do sometimes grind a cardamom pod of two, with the coffee beans. I also like a touch of Nutmeg powder, in the winter. I love to acquire syrups by the amazing company, Monin, and was given the almond syrup from Selfridges in London, for my birthday, but I plan to collect Coconut, Cherry blossom, Violet, and perhaps Ginger and Caribbean syrups, when I have my syrup fund in place. I tried Banana essence with cinnamon, but somehow, it’s not like in pancakes or cakes – it was quite a weird combo. I’ve tried coffee with Starbucks seasonal syrups, like Dark Cherry, Amaretto, Butterscotch and Gingerbread, but somehow, I wasn’t very impressed.

5) Enjoy and really savour the aroma – this is the best part, when enjoying your very own home made gourmet beverage.

Once you try this at home, you’ll be very picky about buying coffee in shops and cafes. Moreover, you will save a ton of money by doing this. It can cost up to £1000 to buy a year’s worth, in coffee shops, if you’re an everyday drinker.

I do hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about my little daily indulgence. A small pleasure that is truly wonderful. After leaving the corporate world, I have found the biggest happiness, in little wonders, from watching the setting of the sun from my window, to the birds chirping, to gently inhaling the aroma of freshly roast coffee beans.

]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/french-pressed-coffee/
Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:17:19 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/french-pressed-coffee/I will be blogging the process, but wanted to share this teaser image. By popular demand, over all my social networks. :-)

]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/desi-hits-south-side-galatta-anokhi-magazine/
Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:40:22 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/desi-hits-south-side-galatta-anokhi-magazine/What a beautifully blessed few months it’s been – I’m trying to update things as they come, mainly to share where my work is features, as it is a common question asked. I did a series called Rahmania (interviewing people in the UK who work with and have collaborated with AR Rahman, like Reena Bhardwaj, Rashid Ali, Ash King, Simon Long, Karen David Matt Dunkley) for B4U TV, and their Talk of the town show, on the red Carpet of Raavan, at BFI in London. This was the interview with Mani Ratnam and Vikram, for Thamarai – it is a 2 parter, so please click through after this part ends, for the rest.With over 6000 people on my Facebook Fan-page, from over 68 countries, the top countries for posts and queries is showing on my insights as India, then UK and US. While my base is London, I’m now working on magazines in India and Canada, which cater to the broader diaspora. I set out to help get Thamarai Magazine launched, back in November 2009 an that has flourished into fruition and is in capable hands.I’m moving sideways, by being so busy with things like co-curating the Classical stage at London Mela and being a consultant on AR Rahman’s UK tour and films like Aamir Khan’s production, Peepli Live.The London Mela saw 92,000 visitors, a new record, AR Rahman’s O2 show (where I was given the surprise gift of announcing him on stage – Thanks AMO, Guy, Simon and Amos – you know who you are!), was a huge success and Peepli Live opened to unprecedented numbers in India and worldwide. The UK fans have to wait, to get a special, eagerly anticipated art-house release, on 24th September, via the eminent Curzon cinema company, Artificial Eye.My work in the longest standing publication in North America, Anokhi Magazine (which means Unique) was well appreciated, by God’s grace. The owner, Raj Girn and her editor, Hina Ansari are both inspirational ladies and it was a pleasure being their Bollywood Editor. The Summer issue is on shelves in Canada/US and UK right now. I did the cover story on Priyanka Chopra and also a feature on the elusive Southern crossover, which links to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s picture, also on the cover. A blessed double whammy.In the meantime, I’m also writing columns for Galatta Cinema Magazine, a monthly glossy publication for India and am on my 3rd column already.It’s called London’s filmista and I adore the editor, Shakthi Girish and her wonderful team, who are based in Chennai, South India.We’ve also had a spate of Bollywood people in London, as usual, in the Summer, alongside my work with Cineworld Unlimited Magazine, which I enjoy a lot. I also attended the BMI music industry Summer Party, which was a lot of fun.I’ve been enjoying a little London sunshine and Cineworld opened it newest cinema, at the O2, in North Greenwich, a stone’s throw for me to reach, which has one of Europe’s largest screens (apart from Imax), the beautiful 770 seater Screen 11 – We saw Inception there and I was blessed to see A Team and Karate Kid there also – as the Americans say, it’s ‘totally awesome’! I was also honoured to compère for the Carnatic (South Indian Classical) festival for the centenary celebration of one of my favourite musicians of yonder, GN Balasubramaniam, a man who was a writer, who revolutionised the music world. His most prominent heir and student to my Dad’s favourite singer, the late great ML Vasanthakumari, the very famous Sudha Ragunathan, graced the London stages with her fabulous singing. While I had met her before, it was fabulous to announce her on!And the question on many people lips (translated as emails in this instance), was when I would re-start the very popular South Side Show, on Desi Hits. Well, instead of a show, I have gone for a column with them – with their branching out into being a record label (Desi Hits/Universal) and all, it was a good time to jump back in and join the amazing team, led by husband and wife, Anj and Ranj, their editor Anita, and music industry icons like Jimmy Iovine, who are part of the mix. What’s next, well a lot more work, of course. I’m especially looking forward to a documentary called The Rajini Effect, which 2 young chaps are making, to coincide with the massive movie release, Shankar’s Endhiran, featuring Superstar Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. I met Abbas Tyrewala and Madhu Mantena, who have an awesome sounding new release, Jhootha Hi Sahee, with the gorgeous John Abraham. It is set in London and is eagerly anticipated. Aficionados will remember that Abbas was the magical director who brought us Jaane tu ya Jaane na and his magic with AR Rahman’s music is going to be a treat, no doubt. I’m hoping to take a bit of a break, but I think I’ll be fitting in a spa day or a day trip here and there, as opposed to flying off, but perhaps, at the end of the year, when things quieten down. This is the sort of place I’d like to be at! God bless, all and I’m sending out a big Thank you to a few lovely folks – Akin Aworan, Anne-Marie O’Sullivan, Ara, Ajay Chhabra, a young lady called Priyal who snapped the candid shot with AR Rahman, the man himself, and my lovely Parents and extended family (Egbons, Tok, Ren)! Keep smiling, all and I’ll be praying for you, for good health and lots of joy!
]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/thamarai/
Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:34:22 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/thamarai/

I think the picture says it all. I’ve been off blogging for a long while, due to being super busy launching Thamarai magazine (for the South Asian diaspora, with a focus on South India, a hugely untapped market), juggling commissions for Cineworld magazine, Galatta cinema, Anokhi, iTunes podcasts, my health (I ended up in hospital at one point), family and compering. In 2009, I created the entire Incredible India magazine, which was 84 odd pages of travel tips plus photo sourcing – fun but tiring.

I compered the London Mela Classical Stage (which featured the likes of the incredible violinist, Jyotsna), ran a Q and A with Dominic Murphy and Edward Hogg (Bunny and the Bull) about the film White Lightenin’, at Rich Mix.

There was also fun to be had, on the BAFTA stage in Piccadilly, for the audio preview of the Tamil film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, especially the interview part, with the Golden Globe, BAFTA and double Oscar and Grammy winner AR Rahman, National award winning director Gautham Menon (Vaaranam aayiram), actress Trisha (who is currently finishing up her first Bollywood foray, Khatta Meeta with director Priyadarshan) and Tamil star, Silambarasan Simbu. The song that made the audience tear up with joy, was Alphons Joseph’s Aromale (Beloved) – his live rendition was simply superb and he recreated that magic in the studio, as the song became a massive hit on release. Also, I chatted to PJ Morton, who sang Sajna, another favourite song of mine from 2009, from the number 1 US box office hit, Couples retreat, by AR Rahman.

Resul Pookutty won the BAFTA, Oscar and all kinds of technical awards and it was lovely to hang out with him in London, as was the time with Tanvi Shah, who sang on Jai Ho, a lovely girl I refer to as ‘Chennai Ponnu’. I was also blessed to meet some of the best anchors of the Asian literary world, including Aravind Adiga, Arundhati Roy, Amartya Sen, Nandan Nilekani and Vikram Seth (A suitable boy). My Facebook friends list crossed 5000 and a fanpage needed to be created and I also began to Tweet – micro-blogging nearly 10,000 quotes and ‘what I’ve been up to’, not to mention my Blip FM radio and Twitpics.

I was blessed to witness AR Rahman being awarded his Trinity College Fellowship at Trinity in Greenwich, as the snow fell in London, which gave me and the all his fans great pleasure.

2009 was my busiest year since my move from IT to journalism, which I made full time in 2005 and it’s amazing to think that we were in Cuba in November 2008, then reached Chennai, India in December 2009 and then Bangalore (Hampi, Mysore too) in Jan 2009, flew to Fez, Morocco for the sacred music festival in June 2009, I attended the London book fair, which had an amazing Indian pavilion, with screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar (Sholay) and Prasoon Jhoshi (who wrote my favourite song of 2009, Rehna tu – Be as you are), was at the MOBO launch and met Chipmunk and Lemar amongst others, spent time with the lovely Kavitha Krishnamurthy Subramaniam and her amazing husband, Dr L Subramaniam in London – she has a show at South Bank, hung out with Susheela Raman and Sam Mills – 2 people I adore, had a lovely time with Carnatic stalwart, Aruna Sairam and violinists, Ganesh and Kumaresh, and have a whole set of ruminations that I never did put up – beautiful memories indeed! I’ve done so much in the last few years so do check out my website for some of my old work.

2010 has been even more busy and blessed – a wedding, friends having babies, a lot of snow, many great quotations and generally loving life. Thamarai has been on everyone’s lips and we’ve been greatly blessed to be sharing content with AR Rahman’s official website, I was a judge at FaceOff 2010 at IndigO2, 3rd time running, hanging out with the beautiful Shriya Sharan (Rajinikanth’s co star in Shankar’s humongous hit Sivaji) and Arya (Naan Kadavul, Pattayal).

Privileged to be at the rehearsals and the show itself of AR Rahman’s Alchemy at South Bank – Royal Festival Hall saw, for the first time, AR Rahman’s compositions played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conduced by Matt Dunkley (famous for his work in movies like Iron Man, Couples retreat, The Dark Knight etc), teaming up with the Kathak exponent, Gauri Sharma Tripathi, who brought some of the scores a 3 dimensional glitter with the stunning dance of her students and the lady herself. Phew.

And there’s more, meeting the gorgeous Sendhil Ramamurthy (aka Mohinder Suresh of Heroes) for Gurinder Chadha’s It’s a wonderful afterlife, Hariharan and Kushboo, as they had a major show at Royal Albert Hall! I also witnessed the unveiling of London’s newest landmark with the world’s richest man, Lakshmi Mittal’s Orbit, made in steel for the Olympics in 2010, by Anish Kapoor, the artist – it was nice to be at City Hall again. The UK Asian music awards happened and the Tamil owned Lebara were the sponsors – I had also happened to interview the CEO, Ratheesh, a humble multi millionaire, who is in his early 30s. And that’s just reaching April 2010. Oh, and yes, I also met the lovely, inspirational Kylie Minogue, who popped backstage to meet AR Rahman at RFH and also wrote the programme notes to accompany the great music!

The London Asian Film festival, Tongues on Fire was also fabulous, this time, the big ‘Bollywood’ contingent of Abhishek Bachchan’s masterclass and his illustrious Mum, the sweet Jaya Bachchan sparkled, while film-makers like Shyam Benegal gave us incredible insights. Sangeeta Dutta’s debut, Life goes on, meant that the timeless Sharmila Tagore and Soha Ali Khan came together on Mother’s Day to premiere their first film together. I had a lovely chat with Ashok Amritraj (Shankar’s Jeans, Bringing down the house), who celebrated his 100th movie and enjoyed time with one of my fave writers, Naman Ramachandran, who also introduced me to the amazing Moolis! I also had a hilarious encounter with one of my favourite comedians, David Baddiel and the fabulous Omid Djalili, for Infidel – check out the interviews on Thamarai.

I have to give a special mention to 5 ladies who I am VERY FOND OF – Kavitha Chhibber and Lady Karen, who have been supporting my health from across the oceans and Anne-Marie and Lil Lady K – both of whom have inspired me and injected my hectic days with joy and laughter and a reticent yet amazing producer friend, Su, she will kill me if I type in her full name – she’s been a wonderful source of advice and great food – her special keema (mince) dish is amazing. And for one guy who keeps behind the scenes, Ara – he’s like the sibling I never had – Big up, dude, your best is yet to come!

As always, I Thank God for blessing me with so much and my gratitude goes out to my amazing Aworan and the amazing family around me and of course my glorious Parents – as my amazing Dad (who is too shy how have his photo on the web) goes into retirement, I wish him many years of music, fabulous scenery and seeing him follow more of his many passions, ranging from Mathematics to musings and modes.

]]>https://theomkarconnection.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/positivity-connection/
Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:50:44 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://theomkarconnection.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/positivity-connection/This Stevie Wonder song has been on my mind and I just had to share it, especially these lyrics:

Some people live in what was and what they could have been
As opposed to living in a what is and how much they can
And be the first to complain about nothing in life going their way
The attitude is “that I can’t do nothing ‘bout”
And very happy with just breathing in and out
The ones that when you say “lets go make a difference”
They’ll say “naw that’s OK”
Stevie Wonder performs “Positivity” with his daughter Aisha Morris in this video. He is the epitome of positivity, blind from birth, he has gone on to prove that nothing is impossible, with his 22 Grammy awards and countless Top 10 hits.

]]>https://theomkarconnection.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/susheela-raman-connection/
Sat, 05 Sep 2009 22:27:11 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://theomkarconnection.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/susheela-raman-connection/
One of my favourite International Tamil voices, Susheela Raman is back in concert and this time, it’s a very special show at The Barbican, one of my favourite music venues. What impresses me the most about Susheela’s shows and general presence, is her re-imagining of her Tamil roots, from the devotional (Bhakti) aspect to her clothes and accessories (her Mangal Sutra aka Thaali is strung into a beautiful choker, which is inherently distinctive and feminine) to her choice of musicians. At her incredibly spiritual shows, one can hear the Temple instruments of Nadhaswaram and Thavil and also the vibrant guitars of Sam Mills, while the vocals of young British artistes like the brothers Raghunathan (Karthik and Kumar on vocals and violin respectively) add to the experience. Prepare to be captivated!
]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/akademis-bollywood-dance-symposium/
Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:41:56 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/akademis-bollywood-dance-symposium/Frame by Frame, the Bollywood dance Symposium took place at the historic Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. Suman Buchar, a well known arts marketeer invited me to cover the event.

Akademi (formerly known as Academy of Indian Dance) is a pioneering organisation that works to encourage excellence in the practice of South Asian dance in Britain. Founded in 1979, Akademi aims to place South Asian dance as an important force within British art, society and education.

It’s director, Mira Kaushik OBE, is a well known figure, known for her directing of innovative dance spectacles and her devotion to propagating Asian arts in London. They have performed many brilliant collaborative projects, that juxtapose South Asian dance with mainstream dance in Britain. It was indeed an event filled with ladies like Mira, who I have always held in high esteem, as they are all inspirations for the next generation of creative Asians in Britain and have strived hard to find a place for Asian arts in England. With Bollywood cinema fusing with the mainstream in the UK and Akademi celebrating it’s 30th anniversary, this symposium was very well timed.

The importance of dance and the emergence of numerous Bollywood style dance classes in the UK means that a portion of the Classical dance from old movies remains in modern choreography and that the importance of dance in stage and theatre remains intact within musicals, especially those with Asian themes. From Bharathanatyam to Hip Hop and street dancing, Bollywood movie songs incorporate a variety of styles within a 6 minute song and dance number.

Personal highlights were the tête-à-tête between Parminder Vir and Gurinder Chadha, Nasreen Munni Kabir’s fantastic look into the uniqueness of music and dance within Bollywood films and Dr Rachel Dwyer’s panel discussion, featuring the likes of Keith Khan of Moti Roti. Dancers like Seema Payal, Payal Patel and Karan Pangali also showed their dance skills to the appreciative audience.

“Dancing in all its forms cannot be excluded from the curriculum of all noble education; dancing with the feet, with ideas, with words, and, need I add that one must also be able to dance with the pen?” Friedrich Nietzsche

Photographs: RJ Fernandez and Renata McDonnell

]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/rip-michael-jackson-legends-never-die/
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:35 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/rip-michael-jackson-legends-never-die/
The above picture is from the first and only time I saw Michael Jackson live – in 2006, at the World Music Awards, which happened in London. He did a tiny set right at the end, way past the last train, if I remember rightly – I was with one of my ‘Asian Woman’ colleagues and Aworan was out there photographing – they wouldn’t allow many photographers to go near the pit for MJ. He went off key and had a children’s choir on stage. He sang a little ‘We are the world’ – a song I remember from my childhood, and was off the stage before we knew it. Beyonce proudly gave him an award and he spoke briefly. Chris Brown did a semi-decent tribute by performing Thriller. All in all, I knew that I missed him at his peak and didn’t buy tickets to see his final tour. Alas, that tour was not meant to be.

Carpe diem – a motto I follow to the best of my abilities day by day. Like all good things, in life, 2 things are certain, change and death. Just as I got home from a beautiful evening out in London, the sad passing of Farrah Fawcett to cancer was all over Twitter. Within a few minutes, TMZ, the LA based gossip website had announced the death of Michael Jackson! I refused to believe it till AP/PA/BBC/CNN confirmed and stayed glued to the news while Tweeting and discussing with my 4600 strong community on Facebook. The confirmation of his passing brought a tear to me eye and took me straight back to my childhood in Nigeria!

We didn’t have access to many TV channels and my first real MJ memory was of the Thriller video. It was scary yet watchable, in the eyes of a child. The dancing intrigued me and I had till then seen people like Sade and Patti Boulaye (who were plugged a lot for their Nigerian descent) and my Dad weaned me on The Beatles. So this was indeed something new to me, moreover, to see a young Black man making such waves. There I was, collecting lyrics (I would ask older kids who had transcribed from listening to his songs on cassette) and trying to understand the meaning behind Billie Jean, in all my innocence.

So memories of Wanna be starting something, Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, Rock With You, The girl is mine, Beat it e.t.c would play at all the parties (we had many in our little corner of Nigeria, Borno state, Maiduguri). Upon moving to East London, in England at the age of 12, I was a fully fledged fan of Mr Jackson, Madonna, A ha and many more and was all set to buy my weekly Smash Hits magazine from the corner shop near Plashet secondary school. There I was, with posters of MJ adorning my wall, much to the disgust of my parents who couldn’t fathom my fascination with pop stars and footballers like Ian Rush and John Barnes.

So ‘Bad’ came out and it was one of the first albums I bought as a cassette, with a little help from Daddy dearest. We didn’t have a lot of money then, so it was a luxury and certainly a treat. As Dada, as I call him, was a Hi Fi enthusiast, he had brought down his equipment form Nigeria including a good radio tuner. This meant I could ‘record’ music from the radio, especially from the Top 40 on Sundays. So I was happily a fan of pop music in parallel to listening to Carnatic music, taking classes and going to concerts. I was also studying music in school and was part of the choir, so singing Whitney Housten’s Greatest Love of all (written by Michael Masser and Linda Creed, originally recorded by George Benson for the 1977 Muhammad Ali film The Greatest) was part of a daily practice session. I particularly enjoyed a term of music where we developed Michael Jackson’s Beat It, as we had steel pans and a young, fun music teacher.

This all culminated in my having an awe for MJ and his musical prowess – Liberian Girl was a particular favourite, with a whole load of celebrities – a fun video with some of top Black names in the business – people I’d loved watching on TV and directed by Spielberg and MJ behind the camera! I never got to see him live, as I wasn’t allowed to go to ‘Western’ pop concerts, only Carnatic ones with family. My other favourite was Black or White – a song whose lyrics of looking past racial boundaries resonated with me during 80s ‘Thatcherite’ England – the South Indian classical dance of Bharathanatyam in one scene made it that much more appealing as it was the first time I saw a mainstream HUGE video with an Asian in it, that too, with MJ doing his own version of those dance moves. The beauty of Iman in Remember the time, again crossed many boundaries, in my book, especially with the very funny Eddie Murphy in it and Teddy Riley’s New Jack Swing! And with this, I will end my never-ending reminiscence of how Michael Jackson’s music touched everybody, from M.I.A who told me that her few English words upon arriving in London, included his name to every single corner of the world. That is a legacy that will never really die.

MJ’s South Indian connections continue to the day of his sad passing, thanks to the SAJA team who informed us of the Doctor who performed his autopsy – Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran in LA. MJ performed in Mumbai and had the South Indian dance genius, Prabhu Deva open for him – he was an inspiration for Indian movie song videos, not to mention setting the bar very high for mainstream videos too.

My friend, AR Rahman is also a friend and fan of MJ’s and I mailed him a condolence message, as with his sound engineer H Sridhar who passed away at the age of 48, nearly 50, like MJ, they both came as a shock to the musical fraternity. AR Rahman (ARR) sent a sad sign :( back and wrote a very touching tribute to MJ. Here is the most poignant part:

“I remember, my late sound engineer Sridhar had brought me a video of the première of “Remember the Time” when I was recording “Kadal Rojave” for my first movie Roja. Seeing it inspired all of us that afternoon.

Now, there is no Sridhar and no Jackson anymore. I hope all of us value people’s existence more and respect them when they are alive.” AR Rahman on Michael Jackson

AR Rahman alongside Kanika and Bala of Bharatbala Productions did a track called Ekam Satyam – it takes me back to my very first meeting with AR Rahman in South Kensington. The fabulous Indian drummer A.Sivamani had cooked fish curry and rice with rasam for ARR and we drove down to see him, me nearly fainting at my first meeting with him and so on. ARR at the time was extremely thrilled as they were working on the MJ show in Germany, the Michael Jackson and Friends Concert (Shobhana and Prabhu Deva Sundaram choreographed the dance piece). MJ fell ill at that show, if I remember rightly, but ARR, Sivamani and team did their performance. An album was in the offing, but it never came into fruition and ARR said in his sad testimonial, that he met MJ recently, during the Oscars and that they may have done a peace album together as they shared that as a vision.

It is a sad loss to the music world, to say farewell to Michael Jackson, who God has called back to heaven. He suffered for his art and had a troubled life, having lost his childhood to work and trying desperately to get it back. I pray, alongside the world, that he will find peace and much deserved happiness in heaven. Below are some of my favourite song portions:

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
I’ve been a victim of a selfish kind of love
It’s time that I realize
That there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan
Could it be really me, pretending that they’re not alone?

What have we done to the world
Look what we’ve done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son…
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine…
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

So pray for all the lost children
Let’s pray for all the lost children
Just think of all the lost children, wishing them well
This is for all the lost children
This one’s for all the lost children
Just think of all the lost children
Wishing them well, and wishing them home

We are the world,
We are the children,
We are the one to make a brighter day,
So let`s start givin`,
There`s a chance we`re takin`,
We`re takin all our lives,
It`s true we`re make it a brighter day just you and me.

Protection
For gangs, clubs,
And nations
Causing grief in
Human relations
It’s a turf war
On a global scale
I’d rather hear both sides
Of the tale
See, it’s not about races
Just places
Faces
Where your blood
Comes from
Is where your space is
I’ve seen the bright
Get duller
I’m not going to spend
My life being a color
I said if
You’re thinkin’ of
Being my brother
It don’t matter if you’re
Black or white

RIP Michael Jackson – you will forever live in our memories and many of us will allow our children to also see and hear the wonderful music and dancing you gave the world. You have been imitated by many, but you remain inimitable. May your soul dance and sing while you watch over the us all.

“Let us dream of tomorrow where we can truly love from the soul, and know love as the ultimate truth at the heart of all creation.” Michael Jackson RIP for taking Black music and crossing it over to the mainstream – your legacy and music will live on!!!

]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/between-the-covers-magazine-exhibition/
Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:01:45 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/between-the-covers-magazine-exhibition/
Very chuffed to see this online on a beautiful website called Uplift Magazine, just like I was, to see my blown-up poster next to some very inspirational ladies at the amazing Between the covers exhibition:

One of the things I loved about the exhibition was the ‘Hall of Fame’ of female magazine editors from past and present. Katharine Whitehorn, Louise Chunn, Linda Kelsey, Claire Rayner, Ashanti Omkar and Sue O’Sullivan are all there, in all their hugely blown-up photographed glory. The photographs are accompanied by a set of audio interviews by Judith Palmer, which give visitors the opportunity to hear insiders’ views of magazine production. I’m not sure where else you might find such a wall of great women, and it was certainly refreshing to see these influential creatives being given the respect and admiration they deserve.

‘Between The Covers’ is free to enter and runs until the 29th of August 2009. The woman’s library is near Aldgate East station, London.

I recently went to a press screening of the film Traitor, before it hit the UK screens (it had it’s US release in late 2008). I had been feeling quite ill that day and was considering leaving after the first 10 minutes, but the film was extremely gripping and I stayed the whole duration. It was indeed disturbing in it’s subject matter of terrorism, but provoked thought in it’s treatment and the prowess of the direction, the acting and the general idea of breaking stereotypes.

The music by South African composer Mark Kilian also worked well with the storyline. I was interested in many aspects of the film and had the opportunity to interview the young director, Jeffrey Nachmanoff. I’ll be posting a link to the piece when it’s in print, but in the meantime, I thought I would put up the questions I sent him (with some details added for the purposes of this blog):

– How did you get into movie making and Hollywood? Was it a childhood ambition?

– What was it like, working with Roland Emmerich on Day after tomorrow and did you expect it to turn out so realistic?

– How did you choose the subject matter for Traitor?

– Which directors inspired you, especially when you chose your directional debut to be Traitor?

– I hear that you’re a man of the world – one who has his ear to the ground, so to speak – was this one of the reasons for the subject matter in traitor? Also, I hear there was a Steve Martin connection on the story side?

– Did you feel worried about making a film that shows two sides of Islam?

– How did you cast for the film and having seen it, I think it was spot on…

– As a director, creating a movie that is not just gripping, but also showing authenticity is always the hardest part, that too, for a debutant like you – tell us your process. Also, you had to jump continents and several cities (17) in the making?

– The casting of Alyy Khan intrigued me, as he just seemed so composed and so good-looking to play the part, someone who the audience may overlook as the threat he actually was. How did the character come by and how did you cast him?

– You grew up in London – how did this shape the subject matter of Traitor? how do you feel the London/UK audiences will react to the film?

With all the success of Slumdog Millionaire, a lot has been written and talked about. I was asked to research and write a piece on the reality behind the film. The piece was published in the very beautiful Anglomania Magazine, which is out in Borders soon. The magazine is a mix of sports, beauty, fashion and issues and I’m certainly very proud to be a part of the April issue. Do check out the article on page 117-118 and enjoy the rest of the magazine too.
]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/quick-comparison-between-heaven-on-earth-and-provoked/
Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:32:55 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/quick-comparison-between-heaven-on-earth-and-provoked/I wanted to share something I had commented on a Facebook status, about these 2 films, as comparisons are being made…

Provoked and Heaven on earth (VIDESH), though sharing the topic of domestic violence in Asian communities and having the bride who comes from India to a foreign country, UK in the former and Canada in the latter, follow entirely different scenarios.

Provoked is a true story of a battered woman who burnt her violent husband alive, while HoE was built out of 3 case studies of women in Canada and mixed with the mystical element of the play Naga Mandala (Girish Karnad) – to do with snakes… Deepa Mehta also spoke to me of other inspirations that led her to make it – the fact that domestic violence sees no colour or creed and it’s across all communities…

Both are very disturbing films on the plight of women and both have a strong message to the viewers. Even educated women are stuck in societies that approve of domestic violence and struggle to get away from violent men.

It’s been a fascinating year in my somewhat tumultuous journey through life. The year 2008 has been one filled with surprises, the newest being Obama – the new president of America, who is Black, Christian and born to Muslim and Jewish parentage. He is everyman, a man of the world and his coming to power certainly took the world by surprise. I’m not really one for politics but it’s nice to hear the man speak – he is certainly an excellent orator and it is indeed refreshing to hear his words “Yes we can”. It is certainly a doctrine I live my life to and I believe that anything is possible through God, if one has the will and works hard – there is not such thing as luck – all great achievers pay their dues to get to their destination – everyone from Bill Gates who programmed for over 10,000 hours as a teen to Mozart who was a child prodigy who just kept getting better with more practice. Work as a whole becomes play when one loves what one does and I like to believe that I live that life every day.

2008 for me has highlighted illness, seemingly unfair lows, honing in on what I am truly grateful for and extreme joy, and all in all, it has been a year that has opened my eyes to what is to come. So much so, that I have been thinking of my 2009 highlights/projections even before this year comes to a close.

I have seen my show, South Side grow before my very eyes – making it happen and being given the creative control by Desi Hits has been a boon to me, as it was uncharted territory to jump into. No one had a British Asian running an English language show that encapsulated the diaspora of the South of India. It involved asking Amitabh Bachchan about his views on South Indian cinema, interviewing AR Rahman, having Aishwarya Rai speak about her beauty secrets, chatting to Gautam Menon about his magnum opus Vaaranam aayiram, catching up with AR Murugadoss about his film Ghajni at Mumbai’s film city, speaking to the eloquent Tamil superstar Vikram about his career, catching up with Anil Kapoor and Dev Patel on Slumdog Millionaire (and it’s amazing soundtrack by AR Rahman with M.I.A and Blaaze featuring) and even having non Southern talents like Raghav come into the studio and dazzle with some live vocals while revealing his numerous trips to Chennai to visit his Aunt and Uncle who settled there. It certainly has been an exciting ride. It was also lovely to see Aravind Adiga, another Southerner winning the Man Booker prize after Arundhati Roy (1/2 Keralan) for The God of small things in 1997 and Michael Ondaatje (Sri Lankan) in 1992 for The English patient.

Desi Hits grows day by day – as a website, they have has 50 Cent, Pussycat Dolls and Sean Kingston redoing his song Beautiful girls into Bollywood girls. It has been quite a ride for the company. It’s founders, Anj and Ranj Bath never fail to impress me with their business acumen. Whether it be making deals with Ashok Amitraj or with Warner Brothers, they have their sights set high – they aim for the top and get what they want and it is very commendable. I call them the British Asian Posh & Becks in their own way.

Amidst writing poetry and building bridges with family, I have spent time connecting musicians, advising as best I can young people, seeing those around me achieve great things and even managed to pull together a 308 page glossy magazine in 3 months with only me, the CEO and 1 designer and a couple of part time sales people. It was a feat that made me proud, especially seeing it at Selfridges next to Vogue. Alas, it took a toll on my health – bad office conditions and a whopping 22 hours a week of traveling on top of long hours meant that my health suffered as a result. Whilst I loved editing a magazine and allowing my mind to conjure up what turned into beautiful printed pages, my health had to come first – it was one of the big lessons I learned this year.

So, taking time out to reflect and rest gave me the opportunity to embellish my radio show and do my bits of freelance work which has also, recently, led to my being given the title Contributing Editor for the BBC Customer Publishing magazine, Cineworld Unlimited Bollywood. I’ve created cover stories about Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Imran Khan and inside stories about Preity Zinta, AR Rahman et al. In the early months of the year, I also did 2 cover stories for a Chennai based arts glossy called The Score – one was on AR Rahman and one was on Aamir Khan. I also met the Big B and chatted to him, Ash Rai in restroom of one top London hotel, laughed with Karan Johar and Farah Khan and generally enjoyed the company of many wonderful people. I also met Simi Grewal and a few other Bollywood types at the Zee awards at Excel in London – she’d always been someone I looked up to, for her interview skills and impeccable diction. Dinner with Shibani Bathija, the writer of movies like Kabhi alvida naa kehna, Kidnap and forthcoming ‘My name is Khan’ also made a profound impact on me. Every one of them imparting pivotal words of wisdom for me to soak up and share through my show and writing.

Some of the highlights of 2008 have been my trips to Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore, enjoying melted chocolate at Harrod’s Chocolate bar, eating great Moroccan, Brazilian, Lebanese, Mexican, Spanish, British, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Sri Lankan, Nigerian and many more types of world cuisine. I have had some wonderful treatments at Neal’s Yard and explored various alternative therapies – Holistic facials, Tui Na massage, Reflexology, Alexander technique and even tried a few sessions on the celebrity endorsed Power Plate at a beautifully plush Power Studio in South Quay. Looking into my carbon footprint also made me quite pleased – I sold my gas guzzling Honda Accord and settled for public transport in 2004, use mainly organic products, switch off my mobile charger once the job is done and don’t own a printer at home where I work from! All my travels are much needed so I feel I’m doing my bit and one can only improve, right? I also had my 2 week old mobile phone, my beloved brand-new Nokia N95 8 Gig Black stolen on Oxford Street – it really shocked me and as it’s pretty much a mini-computer, I was in a frenzy to get it sorted – the insurance guys took a week to replace it with a ‘re-conditioned’ handset which was quite upsetting but I was definitely thankful for taking regular backups!

I learnt that Parabens were the bane of existence for anyone with hormonal imbalances, which meant that I had to dispose of most of my bathroom cabinet and make-up products which I wear so rarely anyway. It is flabbergasting as to how many products out there have Parabens in them and how very few people stock Paraben free products in this day and age. Most top designer make-up and skincare is laddled with them, I was especially upset to find that the cult product, Elizabeth Arden’s 8 hour cream was filled with them! Stopping the use of Parabens and cutting out caffeine in form of my morning coffees have made a huge difference to me. On top of it all, I also discovered Bach’s flower remedies and, am yet to try the more modern Australian Bush flower ones – watch this space, I plan to share my findings. All I can say is that there is a world away from the conventional medicines which has shown me a lot of new hope.

So what’s in store for the closing of 2008 and 2009? I’ll leave God to determine that for me and take my next steps with a blessed heart. I have my dreams and all I can say what Jesus said: As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. Ask, believe and be open to the omens out there that guide you to receive! I met Paulo Coelho last year, which was a lot more eventful for me in many ways, and his book ‘The Alchemist’ literally changed my life – I recommend it for all those who want to follow their dreams and don’t quite realise that closing one door with all conviction opens much more important doors! Think big and always walk the walk if you talk the talk, that’s my motto.

Perennial joy or passing pleasure?
This is the choice one is to make always.
The wise recognize these two, but not
The ignorant. The first welcome what leads
To abiding joy, though painful at the time.
The latter run, goaded by their senses,
After what seems immediate pleasure.

Yet another Ashanti OMkar and Terry Mardi show – early days, so I was finding my feet while Mr Mardi kept teasing me! :-) Fun to do and again, we explored the different genres of music coming internationally from those of the Southern South Asian diaspora. With films like Sivaji hitting the UK charts at number 9 and queues in the cinemas so big that they removed films like Fantastic Four to accommodate the demand for fans to see Rajnikanth, the South phenomenon is certainly a rife. Certain club nights in London have been playing their Dappankutthu/Gaana/Baila portions within the DJ sets and those with Southern roots, like the Sri Lankan continue to embrace Bhangra, Urban Desi and Rock!

I met the lovely Shruti Haasan (pictured) on myspace and found her music enthralling – her debut in the UK arena was on South Side Show 5. With her Tattoo that reads her name Shruti in Tamil, a track called Tamil produced by Hollywood’s Tim Simms and her being the daughter of the great Kamal Haasan and Sarika, she is blessed with immense talent! Her songwriting skills are excellent and she is a true Rock Chick! One of my favourite Ragas, Nalinakanthi is explored via a series of film songs – Maestro Ilayaraja being the first to fuse it into an excellent Tamil film number – his uncanny knack for finding the most rare of Ragas and creating ‘lighter’ versions for the masses was always his strong point!

We also take a listen to more of M.I.A’s Tamil inspirations – I have to say that it is not surprising that her sound was embraced by the UK and US mainstream, as she truly is a child of the world – her blend of politics with art, her knack of finding street kids to play Gaana beats and her Bird flu are all quite illuminating! Further, the fact that Timbaland forgot his Tumbi and plays with Dappankutthu is quite a thrilling dance floor feat!

So, the pilot was approved, and I began to work out how to make segments and stuff – as we’re always evolving, the names e.t.c. have changed over time, as the first few shows came under South Side – Tamil Tuesdays and then Southern Sundays! I also created a Facebook group for it:

Creating the show took a lot of research, as it’s a one of a kind show. I caught up on a ton of Tamil movies, reached out to a load of artistes – as I’m already a journalist and that too specialising in music, a lot of them were already on my radar… I then wanted the pilot show to showcase a lot of Tamil movie music – particularly the ones that have made waves internationally. Terry Mardi, my co-host was clueless about the South, so it was all about educating him and reaching out to the listeners.

We didn’t conceive any of the show sections like Letter of the day and Raga rendezvous till the pilot was approved. We also went for the most popular South language in the world which is Tamil, although, Telugu is the most spoken, but Tamil is very much diasporic and international – there are Tamils in places like South America, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Europe and worldwide, really. The show targets the 1/2 Billion Southern South Asians around the world! We had my myspace photo which turns from picture (taken by Aworan) to Cartoon (Done by Kazuha) and the Desi Hits team created the appropriate artwork.

I had a lot of flashback memories while creating this episode, as I reminisced the day Aworan and I were in Chennai at Panchathan, AR Rahman’s old studio (doing a shoot with AR and Saira, his lovely wife) and Aworan requested for AR to play the Bombay theme tune as he’s seen it in Lord of war and loved it. AR played it without hesitation and it was truly beautiful – we both experienced shivers of delight.

Ilayaraja – this man is a quiet genius – he lives in the most beautiful mansion in T Nagar, Chennai and beholds a very talented family too. Dressed in white, my memories of him are of his singing ‘Janani Janani’ from Thaai Moogambigai to his grandson, Yatheeshwar (son of Karthik Raja) and that he is a man of few words – I guess all that quiet comes out in his music and for show 1, I picked what I felt is one of his most famous songs, from Thalapathy!

The Kandukondain song brings back a lot of memories for me, as I spent a week with Rajiv Menon (The director of the film and also the amazing cinematographer of Mani Ratnam’s Guru and Bombay), Ravi K Chandran (Black, Hindi version of Ghajini, Saawariya, Paheli, Fanaa, Yuvam Boys, Koi… Mil Gaya, Dil Chahta Hai, Kannathil Muthamittal) and his then assistant, S. Ravi Verman (cinematograher of Dasavatharam, Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu, Anniyan) in Dornie village, Scotland. We all had a blast and they show the beautiful title song with Abbas and choreographer, Rekha Chinni Prakash! We even shopped at M&S with Ash (when she landed from Budapest after shooting for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and on her way to shoot for Taal) and shared an anchovy pizza, lots of curry and fish and chips!

SP Balasubramaniam, well, what can I say about this humble genius – he’s a gem of a man and is a legend in his own right – his work speaks for itself. I remember my first meeting with him was on a flight from Chennai to Bangalore – first class, of course. I then met him and his family at Venkat Prabhu’s wedding in Chennai and in Toronto after that!

Shankar Mahadevan – again, magnificent voice – the man has not changed over the years and he is definitely hitting legendary status! His work with the trio, Shankar Ehsaan Loy has taken Bollywood by storm. I remember hanging out with his family in London and having such fun!

Hariharan – another legend with a voice to match – smooth, mellifluous and a very cool guy – he’s another person I’ve met indifferent continents – from London to Chennai to America – his family are also very cool and so easy going!

Blaaze – the most chilled out dude you will EVER meet – this guy is on another plane – again, a family man with an amazing family to boot, I’ve met him also in 3 continents – UK, USA and India!

Noel James, whose voice features in Signore is someone I meet when I visit Chennai, but he also came to London when ARR toured in 2005. Cool guy, he looks after AR’s office stuff!

Mahalakshmi Iyer – a lovely lady who I met in London and spoke to when I was in India – she’s got a stunning voice indeed!

Madhushree – again, a lovely lady who I met during the ARR tour in UK, in Birmingham and London, in 2005.

Naresh Iyer – what can I say, he’s a very very cool dude! Talented, humble and great to hang out with!

Chinmayi – super talented, smooth voiced, hard-working young lady. I remember interviewing her in 2003 for Veena Maagzine – what can I say, every day, I see her grow as a singer and her popularity soars!

Vasundara Das – sharing a drink at her apartment in Mumbai was a treat, meeting her in London was illuminating and the NYC lift at Nassau Colosseum was certainly fun! She’s a singer with the most beautiful, mesmerising eyes and the sweetest nature!

Apache Indian – my first every interviewee! He put me at ease and we even chatted at length about AR Rahman, No problem and Lovebirds – a lovely guy, again with a fabolous family!

Sukhwinder Singh – I remember briefly meeting him backstage in NYC and speaking to him on the phone for an interview a few years ago! Very very cool guy!

Kavitha Krishnamurthy Subramaniam – now she can safely be described as ‘cute’ – her spoken voice is as silky as her singing voice and she wears the most amazing sari! I missed her in Bangalore at her home, but I know I’ll meet her again very soon! Her hubby L Sunramaniam is a violin virtuoso who has played with the best of the best in the West!

Suresh Peters – Chinmayi took me to his studio during my 3 months in India in 2005/06 – very cool guy!

Anupama – I met her at Rajiv Menon’s Chennai studio when Srinivas and co were recording Ussele ussele! Lovely lass with an amazing voice!

Tanvi – I’ve bumped into her backstage at AR’s shows in UK, US, Chennai – she seems very nice and I hear good things about her – listen out for her track in Venkat Prabhu’s Saroja!

Here is how Venture Beat succinctly puts it, although, now, the site as a whole gets around 15 Million hits from 68 countries with dual headquarters in New York City and London:

Desi Hits, a company that delivers online entertainment in South Asia featuring celebrity interviews, music videos, podcasts and blogs, said it has raised $5 million in its second round of financing, from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Trident Capital and D.E. Shaw Group.

The two-year-old company is based in San Francisco, but targets the South Asian (India) or “Desi” youth culture, and says it has more than 10 million hits per month.

“In one short year we have also seen the West’s interest in South Asia skyrocket,” said the company’s CEO Anjula Acharia-Bath in a press release. “We are opening doors to Western acts that want to enter the huge Indian market in an authentic way.”

The company recently featured a podcast with rap superstar 50 Cent prior to his concert in Mumbai.

This is how it used to be, when it was simply a blog site that did amateur podcasts – now, everything is expertly produced and the sound quality, I’m told, is fantastic! Of course, I agree with that! ;-) Also, all the presenters are pretty much experts in their own fields of music, which makes it really worth listening to! Uncensored and real, that’s the ethos!

]]>https://southsideshow.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/the-south-side-photoshoot/
Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:45:11 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://southsideshow.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/the-south-side-photoshoot/(c) Ashanti OMkar
The South Side artwork is usually themed from one of my favourite photos from a shoot done by the excellent Amit and Naroop.
]]>https://omkari.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/goodbye-grandad/
Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:14:11 +0000aSHANTI OMkarhttps://omkari.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/goodbye-grandad/I didn’t know you that well